Chapter 2, page 16

Reprisals on the population for anything the resistance did, and any violence towards the occupying troops, was a staple of nazi discipline. The ratio of how many civilians (or resistance, once they had caught some, or both) to each German dead or wounded varied according to the severity of what had been inflicted and how much the nazis felt they needed to terrorize.

Also, just to put a historic context marker to what Eichel is saying- El Alamein has NOT happened yet.

Indeed, Greece’s victory over Mussolini’s fascist Italy (1940-41) was documented as the official first victory against the Axis powers, and inspired courage and determination to the rest of the allies everywhere at the time.